Liver cancer is a medical condition caused by the abnormal and irregular growth of cancerous cells within the tissue of the liver. The American Cancer Society estimates that 22,620 people in the United States were diagnosed with primary liver cancer (cancer that begins in the liver) and bile duct cancer. If you are diagnosed with this condition, your doctor will explain what the treatment options are for cancer of the liver.
Surgery
The most common form of liver cancer treatment is surgery. Depending upon the severity of your condition, your doctor may recommend one of several surgical options: cryosurgery, partial hepatectomy, liver transplant or radiofrequency ablation. Cryosurgery (or cryotherapy) involves the use of a surgical instrument to freeze and kill cancerous tissue and cells within the liver. A partial hepatectomy is a surgical procedure in which a surgeon will only remove the cancerous liver tissue from your body, leaving the healthy tissue intact. Extensive liver cancer may necessitate a liver transplant--a surgical procedure in which your entire liver is removed and replaced with a donated liver from another person. Radiofrequency ablation is a surgical technique in which cancerous liver cells are destroyed through high levels of heat generated by a surgical probe that emits radio waves.
Radiation Therapy
To treat your liver cancer, your doctor may recommend the use of radiation therapy. This type of liver cancer treatment involves the application of high-energy X-rays to the cancer cells. These X-rays damage cancerous cells and prevent them from growing and spreading throughout the body. This type of therapy can be administered from the outside of your body (external radiation) or from within the cancerous tumor (internal radiation).
Chemotherapy
The use of oral, injectable or topical drugs to destroy cancerous cells is a type of cancer treatment called chemotherapy (chemo). The National Cancer Institute (NCI) explains that liver cancer can be treated with a form of chemo called regional chemotherapy. Regional chemotherapy involves the insertion of a pump within the blood vessels that releases cancer-fighting drugs into the blood stream. Chemoembolization, another type of regional chemotherapy, allows your doctor to deliver chemotherapeutic drugs into the artery that flows to your liver (hepatic artery). This chemo drug is mixed with another substance that can either temporarily or permanently prevent blood from flowing to the liver cancer tumor. In the absence of blood flow, the liver cancer tumor will begin to shrink and die.
Percutaneous Ethanol Injection
Percutaneous ethanol (alcohol) injection is a liver cancer treatment that involves the administration of alcohol directly into the liver tumor through the use of a small needle. The alcohol injection acts to kill off the cancer cells within the liver, preventing them from spreading throughout the body. Typically, this form of treatment is given to a liver cancer patient once or twice a week.
